On a previous visit I was greatly assisted by Alex Mettler who took me around many places of relevance to my family. With the opportunity to return I undertook further research.
In response to my enquiry about the location of my forebears’ graves in Tavistock I received a very helpful and kind reply from Marie Smith who asked if I would prepare some sort of account after my visit. I hope what follows is what she hoped she might receive; a bit of background, and account of my time in Tavistock on this visit, and a brief account of how our branch of the family has fared in New Zealand.
We have traced our Richards forebears with certainty back to Thomas born in Helston in 1700. He was buried at Helston but I was unable to locate his grave there.
His son Simon, born at Wendron in 1742 was orphaned at the age of 7, and as an adult moved to Tavistock. He is buried there along with his wife Ann, apparently in the Churchyard of St Eustachius.
Simon’s son, also Simon born in 1773, was born at Helston but moved to Tavistock where he worked at Wheal Friendship Mine and eventually became Mine Captain at Wheal Betsy Mine. He lived at Blackdown and married Amy Jeffery. I found their grave at Mary Tavy.
Their sons included my Great Great Grandfather Isaac Richards born at Crowndale in 1822. He was a mining engineer and became Superintendent of the Devon Great Consols mine after the death of the previous Superintendent, his brother James Richards. Isaac married Ann Maunder from Mary Tavy and they had a number of children. Some of them became Mine Agents, another a brewer, another son called Philip Richards was the publican at the Ship Inn at Morewellham and is said to have died young due to overconsumption of his wares!.
Isaac and Ann's son also called Isaac, was my great Grandfather. Isaac was born at the Mine Captain’s house at Wheal Anna Maria in1859. At the age of 14 years he was enrolled at Taunton Wesleyan College (Now Queen’s College Taunton) and later went on to Exeter College Oxford where he obtained an M.A. in Mathematics. He was attracted to the Oxford Movement and was ordained at Truro. He married Gertrude Oxland and in 1886 they emigrated to New Zealand. In time he was appointed Bishop of Dunedin, New Zealand and in 1921 he was awarded a Doctorate of Divinity. He had six children; 2 of his sons were killed in action within a fortnight of one another at Gallipoli, and one of his daughters died of TB in 1926. His other daughter Ann was a nurse and never married, his older remaining son became the longest serving Headmaster of Christ’s College, a secondary school in Christchurch modelled on English Public Schools.
My Grandfather was Lionel, Bishop Isaac’s younger remaining son. He became a Priest and eventually a Canon in Christchurch Cathedral.
My father Bernard was also a Priest.
While I have remained a committed Church goer I have pursued a retail career in my mother’s family’s business, J. Ballantyne and Co. Ltd., having first obtained a Law degree at the University of Canterbury
Our visit gave us the opportunity to visit places of significance to my forebears.
My wife and I had morning coffee at The Horn of Plenty where James lived when he was Mine Captain. We had lunch at The Ship Inn. We visited the site of the DGC mine, though to avoid trespassing we did not get to the front of the Mine Captain’s house where Captain Isaac lived. We did, however, stay at the Tavistock House Hotel which is in what was once known as Endsleigh Terrace, and No. 6 Endsleigh Terrace (now 56 Plymouth Road) is the house that Captain Isaac was required to vacate when his employment at DGC ceased. We walked into the site of the mine at Crowndale (not much to see there these days) and I was able to locate Isaac and Ann’s grave at Gulworthy. We visited St Eustachius and were delighted to catch the end of a special service aimed at children. It was joyful. We were invited to the party afterwards but felt we could not spare the time, We wished we had had longer in the area. Everywhere we went we were warmly treated.
I feel a high degree of connection with Cornwall and Devon through our visit, and a pride in my association with this area, and in the lives of my forebears."
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